“A collection of profound and epic album reviews and musical articles by former astronaut and brain surgeon, Alasdair Kennedy. Reaching levels of poetry that rival Keats and Blake, the following reviews affirm Alasdair to be a prodigy, a genius and a god whose opinion is always objectively right. He is also without a doubt the most modest man in the universe.” - Alasdair Kennedy

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Friday, 4 November 2016

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 04/11/2016: clipping., Big Sean, Skepta and more...

Halloween’s over now. We can all
look forward to next week’s scary event – Election Day! In the meantime, check
out these terrifying tunes

THE BEST:

‘Fat Fingers’ – clipping.

What’s so terrifying about this
song? Well, it’s about Donald Trump, innit. Listening to some of the
not-so-complimentary bars, I have a hunch Daveed Diggs and crew won’t be voting
Republican next Tuesday. And even if I do think some of the lyrics goes a bit
overboard (he’s a lot of heinous things, but an ‘uncredited rapist’?), the
addition of the New Zealand and Canada national anthems are quite a clever
touch (basically if Trump wins everyone’s emigrating). Producers Hutson and
Snipes meanwhile provide an industrial beat harder than Trump-Wall-concrete. A
video of the candidate’s Hollywood star being vandalised accompanies the
single.

‘Mouldy Water’ – Harry Macintosh Project

What’s so terrifying about this song?
How about the video, which sees the singer donning a creepy mask and trying to
shove a cucumber through a letterbox. Hailing from Berkshire and Hampshire,
this group of loopy lads are an infusion of crazed vocals and
half-proggy/half-punky guitars. Technically this track was released last year
(which in blogging terms is well old m8), but I’m plugging it anyway because these
dudes deserve the exposure. The band also have a new EP out, which you can
stream here.

What’s so terrifying about this
track? The fact that Big Sean’s bars are sounding scarily good (I think I should give up on this Halloween theme…). Peeved
at the media always poking away at his personal life (those blasted music
journos and music bloggers!), the Detroit emcee delivers this new fiery track
urging people to focus on his music and to stop interrogating him with
irrelevant questions about his relationship with Kanye and the like. But his
jibes don’t stop there – going beyond the media and taking shots at other
rappers ‘and I’m just not impressed by
all you niggas rapping fast/ who sound like one big asthma attack/ but trash
when I’m rapping it back’. Is this a dig at Kendrick?

‘#Worst’– Skepta

Grime king Skepta delivers this
riot anthem to the accompaniment of some self-produced slimy bass and horror
twinkles. The vibe is very similar to his recent single ‘It Ain’t Safe’
(perhaps a bit too similar) but still uniquely Skepta-sounding. Unveiled on
October 31st, the track was released alongside a freestyle titled ‘#nosecurity’.

THE WORST:

‘Somebody to love’ – Robby the Elf

This isn’t a Queen cover. In fact,
what is it? Country? Pop? Is that rapping? Why does he sound a bit like Stephen
Hawking?